Our New Leader,
Whose Name I Did Not Learn, Was A Man Of About Fifty Years, And
Was A Genuine Arab In Appearance And Dress.
But he wore nothing on
his feet - not even sandals.
I felt better satisfied, knowing that
he would lead the way on that day, for my dragoman was not
familiar with that part of Gilead. However, when toward the middle
of the afternoon we descended into the Jordan Valley, he was quite
at home again.
Single file we proceed from Coefrinje along a narrow path with the
bushes and briars brushing the sides of our horses and wetting us
with dew. It is not long until we begin to ascend a high ridge.
Here there are no paths whatever, and at times our horses can
scarcely move on because of the steepness of the ascent. But a few
minutes before nine o'clock, after a toilsome struggle, we reach
the summit of the ridge, and here I get my first panoramic view of
the west-Jordan country. It is entrancingly beautiful.
When we had reined up our horses I said to my dragoman, "Tell our
attendants to be still until I have finished speaking; I want to
explain the scene before us." And then while he listened, and
looked as I directed, I said: "That towering height far to the
north is Mount Hermon; the sheet of water some miles on this side
is the Sea of Galilee; to the west of the Sea of Galilee is
Hattin, the Mount of Beatitudes; that white spot southwest of
Hattin is Nazareth; that great plain south of Nazareth is
Esdraelon, the 'battle-field of Palestine'; these rounded
mountains here in the eastern part of the Valley of Esdraelon are
Tabor, Little Hermon, and Gilboa; - on the north is Tabor, at whose
base Napoleon fought; the next is Little Hermon, where lived the
witch of Endor; and the one south of Little Hermon is Gilboa,
where Saul and his sons were slain; that range of mountains
forming the southern wall of Esdraelon is Carmel, where Elijah
held his trial with the priests of Baal; here below us, winding in
its serpentine course, is the Jordan in its great trough or Ghor;
in the center of the picture are the mountains of Samaria, with
Ebal and Gerizim; to the south are the mountains of Judea, where
lies Jerusalem; and that broad expanse of water beyond all these
is the Mediterranean, the 'great sea toward the going down of the
sun.'"
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